Indiana Pacers can't finish another game and trail 0-3 vs Boston Celtics. Now what?

The Pacers are down 0-3 after another crushing loss

May 25, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith (23) shoots the ball against Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) and guard Jrue Holiday (4) before the buzzer during the fourth quarter of game three of the eastern conference finals in the 2024 NBA playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers trail 0-3 in their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Boston Celtics, but the margin between where they are and where they could be is razor thin.

In Game 1 last Tuesday, the Pacers were ahead by five in the final minutes and even had possession of the ball with a three-point lead in the final seconds. Yet they lost and felt like they beat themselves. One more successful play would have given Indiana a win that night.

Saturday, the Celtics executed a clutch comeback again. With 2:25 to go in Game 3, Indiana led 109-101. With 1:13 remaining, that lead was down to 111-106. And with 39 seconds to go, Boston was ahead. The visitors scored on every possession down the stretch to put the Pacers away, and despite having a few chances to win in the final seconds, the blue and gold came up short.

"Everything," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of what the difference was in that stretch. He watched that sequence again in between the final buzzer of the game and his postgame press conference.

Twice in this best-of-seven, the Pacers have watched a game slip from their grasp in the final period. The Celtics deserve credit for their poise and ability in the late possessions of these battles, but Indiana has to feel like they've given away two quality chances. They had the ball with a lead in the final minute of two different outings, yet they lost both of them. That's deflating.

"Sucks... definitely a tough one," Pascal SIakam said after Game 3. "In that fourth quarter, we didn't have enough."

The blue and gold were ahead by 18 points with 5:48 to go in the third quarter of Game 3. For long stretches of that outing, they played great basketball. It was similar to Game 1 — a duel in which the Pacers played great for 47 minutes according to star guard Tyrese Haliburton.

Boston cut that 18-point lead to nine by the end of the third quarter, then erased basically all of the remaining deficit in the final 2:30 of action. It was crushing for the Pacers, who scored just 42 points in the entire second half after putting up 38 in the second period alone.

"They just didn't go away. You've got to give credit where credit is due, they kept chipping away. They just made one more play than we did," Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said Saturday night. "Unfortunately, we didn't come out with a win."

Naturally, Indiana could be mentally down as a unit. No team in NBA history has even come back from a 3-0 deficit in a series. It's a daunting task to beat any team in the league four times in a row, especially one that won 17 more regular season games.

The Pacers will try to be the group that makes history and sets the precedent. Last year, the Celtics were down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals before knotting up their series at 3-3. But they fell in the seventh game. Teams have gotten close to coming back from the brink, and Indiana will hope they can be the first team to get over the hump.

"There's plenty of reasons to be motivated," Carlisle said on Sunday. He noted that he heard the NBA is making logistical plans to have a trophy presentation in Gainbridge Fieldhouse after Game 4. If the Celtics win, they will raise hardware as 2024 Eastern Conference champions.

"That's something that I think should make our player's blood boil and our fan's blood boil," Carlisle said. "It's just a layer of motivation."

Nobody wants to get swept. There is pride at stake for the Pacers, who have pushed the Celtics to their limit twice already in this series. Indiana doesn't want their terrific season to end with an 0-4 result even this deep into the postseason.

They want to be the first team ever to come back from 0-3 down. It's tough and requires perfection, and the blue and gold haven't had that so far this series — especially down the stretch of games. But they will fight until they are vanquished by Boston. They are motivated and fueled by dignity.

"We are going after them," Carlisle said of what can be expected going forward in the series. His team cleaned up many of their mistakes from Games 1 and 2 in Game 3, and it's reasonable to assume they will continue to improve throughout the best-of-seven. "We came up a little short tonight. But we will be back on Monday, and we will be punching even harder."

Monday night is Game 4, and it could be the last game in Indianapolis of the 2023-24 NBA season. The Pacers will hope it isn't and that they can keep pushing the series despite some crushing defeats. They will need to be at their best to get it done.

---

• Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton makes Third-Team All-NBA, earns a larger contract via rookie-scale extension. CLICK HERE.
• Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton leaves Game 2 vs Boston Celtics with a sore left hamstring. CLICK HERE.
• Big runs from the Boston Celtics early in the series show how small the Indiana Pacers margin for error is. CLICK HERE.
• Indiana Pacers blow 18-point lead in Game 3 and fall to Boston Celtics, trail 0-3 in series. CLICK HERE.
• Follow AllPacers on Facebook: All Pacers SI
• Follow AllPacers on Twitter: @SIPacers